Decorative capped wheel nuts and bolts are well-known in the automotive art. A decorative capped wheel nut, for example, conventionally comprises a nut insert and a decorative cap which is fastened to the insert by welding, crimping or with an adhesive. Examples of these constructions are illustrated in various prior art patents, including the Toth U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,773, the Bydalek U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,377, the Chaivre U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,018,133, and 4,056,862, the Baltzell U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,070 and the Somers et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,420, for example. It is also known to form threads in a cap and in a lug nut and thread the cap onto the nut. See the Nolan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,266 in this regard.
All methods described in the prior art require relatively complex structures, assembly procedures and/or additional components. Assemblies produced by welding require expensive and sophisticated equipment for practical implementation of production. Practical options for plating the inserts are limited where welding is employed, placing welded designs at a disadvantage for achieving high corrosion resistance. Crimped designs require the addition of components, i.e., a sealant or o-ring, which complicates automated assembly. The use of adhesives causes similar problems. Because of the nature of the welding processes, or the introduction of extra components, production rates for these assembly processes are low.